Tenebrae Manor: In the Dark Trees Definitive Edition – Available Now!

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You may know me as the angry man berating you on Twitter. I’ve decided to take a more professional approach in contacting you via this correspondence. A bit about myself: I am a full-time worker who commutes between my home in Helensburgh and my place of work in Martin Place via Sydney’s train network. For years I have found the services provided to the people of this city to be less than adequate. These issues have been present long before your appointment as Minister of Transport so I will reprieve you of blame for the past failings of others, however I believe there needs to be more done to bring Sydney’s transport network up to a ‘first-world’ and ‘global’ level.

I have spent the past year conducting a little experiment; I returned to work on January 30th 2017 and finished up on 22nd December 2017. In that timeframe I have recorded every delay that occured on my commute, a reason for the delay (if any) and the date the delay occurred. Please note that this is just my own experience with delays – one man, on one of the many train lines of Sydney, at one consistent time (a.m. and p.m. peak between Helensburgh and Martin Place).

The results, to be blunt, are damning. In my recordings alone, I documented over 60 instances of train delays across 49 weeks (245 work days). This equates to a delay every 4 days on average, meaning that this average commuter was subjected to a delay at least once every week. Let that sink in: at least once every week a commuter can expect to be delayed in Sydney, a ‘first-world’ city. In many cases, no reason was given as to why there was a delay, and when information was provided, it was hardly reassuring or professional. Such excuses as ‘service cancelled for today only’ or ‘train terminating at a different stop’ are, in my mind, not acceptable for a global city such as Sydney. Other reasons such as mechanical failures, signal repairs and malfunctioning doors / toilet amenities are problems that should not (or rarely) occur in a first-world transport network.

Above were merely a handful of the excuses that were paraded out this year. It is worth mentioning as well that ticket prices increased on 1st July 2017, despite no improvements to the service. The Opal Card has been a good system for fares, however the brilliant ‘free trips after 8 weekly journeys’ regime has been compromised, and now punishes the commuter for using the trains. You would think that the exorbitant amount of money commuters are spending would mean we’d have trains that don’t break down all the time. Other issues include the guards and announcers being unprofessional in their approach to their vocation; we’re talking passive aggressive announcements, announcing station stops incorrectly, not speaking loudly enough over the PA system. I would hate to be a non-English speaking tourist in Sydney – how in the world are they expected to work out where they are going when the transport network is so inconsistent?

Perhaps the worst offence of your employees is blaming the commuter for delays – when trains are late, the crowds on platforms build, and often an announcer will often berate these crowds for holding up a train departing. I cannot fathom how this is the fault of people who are just trying to get to work or home on time. When trains are delayed or cancelled, it impacts on the personal lives of those using the system. People run late to work; this affects the economy. People run late home; this affects personal relationships and mental health. The knock-on effect of your train network’s failings may not be obvious, but it also cannot be denied.

I returned to work 8th January 2018, and in this first week alone there have been horrendous delays for several days. Acts of God, sick drivers, faulty trains are just a few of the excuses I have heard so far. New year, same rubbish. As I previously stated, I will not berate you for the failings of the past, but as Minister for Transport I feel you have a responsibility to ensure our train network is kept consistent and of a high quality. This responsibility is not being met at the present time. Sydney trains are inconsistent, are poor value for time and money, and the business as a whole is unprofessional. I could ask you dozens of questions out of frustration and anger, but I think the best question to pose to you is to read my list of recorded delays and answer me this – Do you think this is good enough?

Regards,

P.S. Clinen.

List of recorded delays between Helensburgh and Martin Place between 30/01/2017 to 22/12/2017:

Welcome to 2018. My first promotion of the year will be for The Will of the Wisp. It will be available to download for free on Amazon Kindle for 5 days beginning 12th January. The Will of the Wispis my latest novel which was publish mid-last year. So if you haven’t read it yet, now is your chance. Link in cover image below.

Another year has rolled by and I realised it’s been a rather busy one for myself on the writing front. The obvious distractions of fatherhood deterred my thoughts for so long that it’s only now that I feel I can happily hang my hat up for 2017. It was a great relief to finally publish The Will of the Wisp back in July, and re-visiting Tenebrae Manor in order to get the definitive edition published was a blast. With my sister’s help I was fortunate enough to have a few short stories featured in The Australia Times online magazine; it is always so exciting to have other people read the work that is so personal to the writer.

What else? Well I continued on my merry way writing stories for a third novel; a novel with absolutely no release date in sight. Becoming a dad has had the expected effect on my priorities, and this new novel idea has been sculpted around those effects. I find it very difficult to focus on one idea for an extended period of time now; The Will of the Wisp and its long production can attest to this. It ain’t like the days of writing Tenebrae Manor, where I could write whenever I pleased! So these new stories are short snippets that are all set in a similar universe / time frame. The result is numerous story arcs in the air all at once, ready for me to pluck down at leisure and continue forward. It’s a great way to write (at least for myself).

Of books? I read plenty of fantastic novels this year. Now that the holidays are on the horizon, should you need something good to peruse here are some of the best books I read in 2017:

Tenebrae Manor (both the original and definitive editions) and The Will of the Wispare free to download on Amazon Kindle for five days only! Promotion ends on Halloween 31st October so get yourself a spooky read to get into the spirit of things! Links below:

Just in time for Halloween, Tenebrae Manor: In the Dark Trees Definitive Edition is available now! I’m very pleased to be able to get this ready in time for the upcoming holiday season. This improved edition of my first novel is the best way to experience the story. Containing illustrations, poetry, character profiles, interviews and more, this is Tenebrae Manor the way it is meant to be.

Tenebrae Manor: In the Dark Trees Definitive Edition can be purchased on Amazon for $15.99 USD, making it cheaper than the original edition! Just one more reason to add it to your reading collection. A Kindle edition is also available for just $0.99 USD! Click the image below to get your copy today.

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Official website of Australian author and artist, P.S.Clinen. He has published two novels - Tenebrae Manor and The Will of the Wisp, as well as the illustrated poem A Boy Named Art. All of his works are available to purchase on Amazon. Check back often for more by this author, including poetry, short stories and other updates.